Elucidating the neural pathways and genetic basis of speech. The project will elucidate the biological basis of speech, a unique feature of the human condition. The project will do this by i) discovering genes associated with speech disorder and ii) defining the neural pathways associated with speech production. This study will address critical questions regarding gene, brain and behaviour relationships in speech.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101290
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Age-related reorganisation of cortical networks subserving memory retrieval. This research project will use brain imaging to understand how the brain reorganises working memory when it ages. It will provide a framework for understanding age-related memory decline in the brain, which will in turn provide key information for understanding memory difficulties in clinical populations.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100157
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$416,134.00
Summary
Involvement of the claustrum in coordinating brain circuits. This project aims to reveal how the claustrum coordinates information flow across other brain areas. The project will test the hypothesis that the Claustrum, a structure in the brain’s temporal lobe, coordinates the brains resting state networks. The project expects to characterise how the claustrum interacts with different networks, using a combination of anatomical, physiological and mathematical analysis techniques. The project expe ....Involvement of the claustrum in coordinating brain circuits. This project aims to reveal how the claustrum coordinates information flow across other brain areas. The project will test the hypothesis that the Claustrum, a structure in the brain’s temporal lobe, coordinates the brains resting state networks. The project expects to characterise how the claustrum interacts with different networks, using a combination of anatomical, physiological and mathematical analysis techniques. The project expects to advance knowledge about the function of one of the least understood parts of the brain. This will provide benefits that include new analysis techniques for integrative brain function, and may form the basis of future biotechnologies for modulating brain activity using neuroengineering or pharmacological approaches.Read moreRead less
Investigating differences in decision-making ability in older adults. This project aims to investigate how healthy ageing impacts decision making and its associated neural circuits using computation modelling and neurogenetic methods. Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive ability, allowing us to choose the best course of action. This project will investigate the relationship between genes and decision-making performance across the adult lifespan. Expected outcomes include a deeper understan ....Investigating differences in decision-making ability in older adults. This project aims to investigate how healthy ageing impacts decision making and its associated neural circuits using computation modelling and neurogenetic methods. Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive ability, allowing us to choose the best course of action. This project will investigate the relationship between genes and decision-making performance across the adult lifespan. Expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of how decision-making evolves in healthy ageing, and a tool based on genetic scores and computational modelling to predict an individual's trajectory of cognitive function. This could help identify individuals who are at risk for cognitive decline, which could then inform better interventions.Read moreRead less
The structure and function of the human spinal connectome. This project will use complex network analysis to map the interactions between the brain and body, to understand how the central nervous system controls our movements. The project will provide fundamental insights into mechanisms that coordinate activity in the human motor system, and how the breakdown of coordination may lead to movement disorders. By integrating advanced computational analyses with state-of-the-art recording techniques ....The structure and function of the human spinal connectome. This project will use complex network analysis to map the interactions between the brain and body, to understand how the central nervous system controls our movements. The project will provide fundamental insights into mechanisms that coordinate activity in the human motor system, and how the breakdown of coordination may lead to movement disorders. By integrating advanced computational analyses with state-of-the-art recording techniques, the project will generate new knowledge of the neural basis of human motor coordination. Expected outcomes may support future applications to restore motor function through brain stimulation, prosthetics and robotics design.Read moreRead less
Spontaneous activity and neural decoding in the developing brain. This project aims to investigate how patterns of neural activity emerge in the developing brain, using the zebrafish as a model system. This project expects to generate new knowledge regarding the functional significance of spontaneously generated activity, and how it interacts with sensory experience. The expected outcomes of this project include enhanced capacity at the interface between neuroscience and computation. This should ....Spontaneous activity and neural decoding in the developing brain. This project aims to investigate how patterns of neural activity emerge in the developing brain, using the zebrafish as a model system. This project expects to generate new knowledge regarding the functional significance of spontaneously generated activity, and how it interacts with sensory experience. The expected outcomes of this project include enhanced capacity at the interface between neuroscience and computation. This should provide significant benefits including greater insight into normal brain development, and the formulation of new concepts potentially relevant for brain-inspired computing.Read moreRead less
How does environmental enrichment affect brain development? This project aims to use brain imaging and advanced computational analyses to investigate how early sensory experience affects brain development. It adopts the larval zebrafish as a model system, since they display sophisticated behaviours from an early age, and neural activity can be recorded at whole-brain scale with single neuron resolution. The project aims to generate new knowledge regarding environmental effects on brain developme ....How does environmental enrichment affect brain development? This project aims to use brain imaging and advanced computational analyses to investigate how early sensory experience affects brain development. It adopts the larval zebrafish as a model system, since they display sophisticated behaviours from an early age, and neural activity can be recorded at whole-brain scale with single neuron resolution. The project aims to generate new knowledge regarding environmental effects on brain development and behaviour. This will provide significant benefits including greater insight into normal brain development, and the formulation of new concepts potentially relevant for brain-inspired computing. The expected outcomes also include enhanced capacity at the interface between neuroscience and computation.Read moreRead less
How do patterns of brain activity emerge during early life? This project uses theory and experiment to investigate how neural coding emerges in the developing brain. It adopts the larval zebrafish as a model system, because neural activity can be recorded at whole-brain scale but with single neuron resolution. The project expects to generate new knowledge regarding how neural activity comes to represent sensory stimuli, and new statistical models for interpreting large-scale patterns of neural a ....How do patterns of brain activity emerge during early life? This project uses theory and experiment to investigate how neural coding emerges in the developing brain. It adopts the larval zebrafish as a model system, because neural activity can be recorded at whole-brain scale but with single neuron resolution. The project expects to generate new knowledge regarding how neural activity comes to represent sensory stimuli, and new statistical models for interpreting large-scale patterns of neural activity. This will provide significant benefits including greater insight into normal brain development, and the formulation of new concepts potentially relevant for brain-inspired computing. The expected outcomes also include enhanced capacity at the interface between neuroscience and computation.Read moreRead less
How the brain produces speech: Neuronal oscillations to neuromodulation. Speech is crucial for facilitating human communication through language, yet there is a lack of clarity about where, when and what type of activity occurs in the brain during key stages of production. This project will use intracranial recordings to characterise neuronal oscillations in combination with direct electrical stimulation, functional neuroimaging and non-invasive brain stimulation to establish critical areas and ....How the brain produces speech: Neuronal oscillations to neuromodulation. Speech is crucial for facilitating human communication through language, yet there is a lack of clarity about where, when and what type of activity occurs in the brain during key stages of production. This project will use intracranial recordings to characterise neuronal oscillations in combination with direct electrical stimulation, functional neuroimaging and non-invasive brain stimulation to establish critical areas and their timecourses with millisecond resolution. The outcome will be a better theoretical account of the brain mechanisms involved in spoken production. The benefit of this new theoretical account will be a better basis for prevention of post-surgical language impairment and neuromodulatory treatments after brain injury.Read moreRead less
A more sound approach to the neurobiology of language. How does the brain attain spoken language? Current neurobiological models assume either implicitly or explicitly that there is no relationship between a word's sound and its meaning. Yet considerable evidence shows this strong assumption about the arbitrariness of language is invalid. This project will use a combination of behavioural, neuroimaging and computational studies to characterise how the brain processes statistical regularities in ....A more sound approach to the neurobiology of language. How does the brain attain spoken language? Current neurobiological models assume either implicitly or explicitly that there is no relationship between a word's sound and its meaning. Yet considerable evidence shows this strong assumption about the arbitrariness of language is invalid. This project will use a combination of behavioural, neuroimaging and computational studies to characterise how the brain processes statistical regularities in sound-to-meaning correspondences as probabilistic cues to attain spoken language. The outcome will be a better neural account of language comprehension and production. The benefit of this new account will be a stronger basis for assessment and treatment of developmental and acquired language impairments.Read moreRead less